Chase the Goose
by Torchedgirl
Summary: Jack has just disappeared and the team are still reeling, but why in hell is Jack in the Himalayas? Can the team survive the perils...
1. Chapter 1

AN: Ok. I know I have like three fanfics going at once but I must write this one. It's based on the quote from both Jack and the master in the episode 'the sound of drums'. The reference is that Jack cant get hold of his team and that the master said that they were on a 'wild goose chase' in the Himalayas. So here is what I think happens. I cant report anything that will happen after the mission, because I have no idea what will happen in the next episode of doctor who. So there are rather big spoilers for some of the doc who eps. Also sorry but there is already a fanfic that is along the same lines…tho mine is better! Enjoy!!!!!

**Chase the Goose**

The team was still reeling from Gwen's exclamation that Jack had gone missing when the call came through from UNIT. Tosh moved to her station and pulled up the alert and read it out to everyone.

"We are needed to go to the…Himalayas? Why…what is he doing out there?" Questioned Toshiko. She read the alert again and leaned back in her seat. "It looks like our intrepid boss has taken a trip to the Himalayas and has found some interesting stuff. He wants us to head out immediately."

Toshiko looked at the team. Gwen was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.

"So you mean to tell me that Jack has just this minute made his way to the _Himalayas_ and wants us to go all the way out there just because he found something interesting?" Asked Owen slowly. Toshiko nodded.

"Well I'm convinced, lets pack. Now where did I put my hiking stuff, oh yeah. I left it with the cannibals on the Brecon Beacons!" Shouted Owen sarcastically. Tosh sighed in exasperation.

"Look are we going or not!" She shouted back. The team looked up at her suddenly. Tosh looked away, embarrassed by her outburst. They all nodded in turn. Except, that is, for Ianto

Ianto was staring into space. Why had Jack left so abruptly? No note, nothing to say where he was. It was just so unlike him. The team were used to his random wanderings to clear his head, but he would leave a message on their computers or text them. Maybe something had caught his eye? Or maybe he had been captured and maybe this was all an elaborate trap to kill the Torchwood team. All these thoughts bombarded Ianto's mind all at once.

"Ianto? Are you in? We need you, we're short one person and I'm sure Jack would have wanted you to come anyway." Gwen asked softly, in the time that Ianto had been thinking Gwen had walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. Ianto jumped at the touch and looked at Gwen. She smiled at him and rubbed his arm.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm in. How are we getting there?" Asked Ianto looking at Tosh. She tapped at her keyboard then whistled, rather impressed.

"We will be personally flown in the Prime minister's jet to an outpost in Tibet! Then we will be flown in a UNIT helicopter to where we will begin a…three-day trek to the site. Jack will meet us there. Wow." The rest of the team were impressed too.

"That Saxon likes us then." Owen replied. His arms were crossed across his chest and his hands began to play an all too familiar tune. No one paid any attention to it. Gwen tapped the same tune on Ianto's arm. Ianto tapped the tune on the side of his leg with his hand. Tosh tapped the tune on her PDA with her stylus. They were all oblivious to what they were doing and the hypnosis they were under.

The team was also oblivious to the true nature of their mission. To keep Torchwood out of the way as the Master laid his plans to control the world and to ultimately kill them. Little did they know that Jack was billions of years in the future in a far off galaxy. So the team pre-pared to leave.

Ianto made calls to clothing suppliers and climbing suppliers. He had searched on the Internet for what they would need. Tosh set the Torchwood Hub into lockdown and started to pack various equipment that she thought that they would need. Mostly stuff to find aliens. Basic trackers and detection stuff. Owen was stocking up on supplies as well. This time it was medical equipment. His medical bag needed restocking, but he needed more specialised equipment this time. Extra blankets and thermometers, heating packs and other stuff that would help any team member if they fell victim to the cold. Gwen had called her boyfriend Rhys. He wasn't too happy that she would be away for a week or so. They had the usual argument that included mentions of her constant absence from the flat and the not existent time that they spent together. She refused to argue with him there and then, so she told him that she would be back in a week, would call him when she got back, told him she loved him and put the phone down. She put the mobile on her desk and placed her hands either side of the keyboard.

Gwen breathed in slowly and let it out shakily. She was on the verge of tears, but she wouldn't let her problems with Rhys affect her work. Owen walked behind her and stopped when he saw a solitary tear fall to her desk.

"Gwen? You ok? What's up?" He asked. Owen put down his rather full medical bag and turned Gwen to him. Her eyes were full of tears and she sniffed as another tear fell to the floor.

"Oh…nothing. Just…Rhys. Im all right. Go on. Get packed. The car'll be here in a minute." Sniffed Gwen. She waved Owen off and turned back to her desk. Owen turned her back to his face. He lifted her chin to his face.

"If he does this to you. He's not worth it. Believe me." And Owen pulled her into a warm hug, then walked off to pack the rest of his things. Gwen smiled.

"Thanks Owen." She said quietly. Owen waved behind his back and continued walking.

In an hour they were all waiting at an airstrip on the outskirts of Cardiff. A rather large, white jet screeched past the team and landed ready to take them to Tibet. It had the Prime minister's logo on the side. The interior of the jet was amazing. They all stared in awe as they sat down and pre pared to take off. There was a chandelier above them and the chairs that they sat on were more like armchairs rather that the generic seats you usually had. The flight was three hours long. But the team didn't seem to care. There was champagne and a posh meal appeared half way through the flight. They had television and Dvd's. When they eventually did land they walked out onto a bare airstrip that was patchy with ice and snow. The team had put on a few more layers just as the plane had landed but the air that greeted them when the door was opened was like being bitten.

The team huddled together as they half ran their way towards the shelter at the far end of the airstrip. Inside they were given warm drinks as they waited for the UNIT aircraft.

An hour later, Ianto was asleep against Tosh, Owen was pacing the room in a feeble attempt to keep warm and Gwen was staring out in the pure white of the distant hills and mountains.

Suddenly a load roar punctuated the silence of the sheltered airport. A metallic roar of engines and rotary blades. The far window that Gwen was facing was suddenly a flurry of snow and ice. Owen stopped pacing, Ianto and Tosh had woken up and were taking tentative steps towards the window that had captured Gwen's gaze.

An enormous helicopter burst from below the hill that the airport sat upon. The flurry of snow that it generated turned into a thick blizzard. All four of the team members gasped as the aircraft flew over their heads to land on the airstrip.

"Well. I think they over did it a bit." Said Owen. His casual tone displayed his shock and amusement.

The team looked at him with cynical looks. He shrugged.

"Just a bit."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: next chapter. Please remember to leave a review. It costs nothing at all and it makes me happy. Thank you to those who have added this story as their favourite, which makes me very happy indeed.

The team filed out of the shelter and walked against the icy wind towards the helicopter. They climbed inside the helicopter and were greeted by intense warmth and the friendly handshake of a young corporal. As they sat down the helicopter whirred louder and they rocketed towards their destination.

"Corporal Johanson at your service. It'll take about half an hour to get to where you'll start the trek. Here are your maps, they show your route and a series of safety zones if you get in trouble." The young Corporal raised his voice over the deafening roar of the twin bladed helicopter. He handed Owen and Ianto the two maps that would guide them. He then gave Gwen and Toshiko GPS devices.

"If you follow the map and these GPS signals you should find Captain Jack Harkness. Also, place these on your person." Shouted Corporal Johanson. He gave each person a small device, which would attach to his or her jacket. "These are also connected to the GPS device I gave you both. If you get lost you can find each other. Don't worry these work in extreme cold." He then smiled.

The team nodded and placed the devices on their jackets. For the rest of the journey Ianto and Owen ran checks on their equipment. Corporal Johanson gave Ianto and Owen some more supplies, emergency flares and equipment to climb the high mountains. When they touched down, the Corporal shook each of their hands warmly, or what seemed warm through three sets of gloves.

"Good luck out there guys." He shouted as they scuttled under the twin blades in the flurry of snow.

"_You're gonna need it." _He muttered under his breath as the helicopter began to rise into the sky. He knew that they were on a wild goose chase, he just didn't care to tell then. And as the helicopter swivelled round to head back Corporal Johanson began to tap a staccato tune on the side of the helicopter with his gloved hand. The pilot tapped it on the controls as he changed the speed of the blades and the co-pilot whistled it as they flew off into the distance. All the subjects of Harold Saxon's onslaught.

The team watched as the helicopter disappeared into the distance and sighed as they stared at the mammoth mountains that they would have to climb over the next few days. Owen breathed the air deeply, squared his shoulders and trudged forwards.

"C'mon, we're never gonna get there if we stand here gawking at it. If we get going now we can get to that ridge there in time to set up camp and try and sleep in this glorious weather." Owen smirked at his own sarcasm. The team had to agree though. So they followed Owen in a line. Gwen walked behind Owen, Tosh next and Ianto at the rear.

Before they set off they were given tips on how to survive, they had all agreed that if they fell of the side of a mountain they should have the two strongest of the team at the front and rear so that they could pull the other members of the team away. That being Owen and Ianto, Tosh and Gwen had agreed.

The weather grew steadily worse as the hours passed and the mountains grew as they got closer. Ianto had suggested that they tell stories from their childhood and other times in their life to take their minds off the bitter weather and the towering mountains. Toshiko agreed to go first.

"When I was 17, I met this guy in a bar in London. I was completely off my head drunk. This was all the fault of my best friend; we were celebrating her 18th. So he walks up to me and starts to chat me up. I have to admit he was pretty good-looking so I played along. Then out of the blue I threw up all over the poor bloke and he runs off."

Everyone burst out laughing, their voices echoing in the large ravine that they had been making steady progress through. Tosh giggled slightly too.

"So what happened then Tosh? If I had chirped my chips on a hot bloke I would have ran out of the place and never gone out again." Chortled Gwen.

"Actually I don't remember. While he had been talking I'd downed quite a few more drinks and I passed out as soon as he ran off. Woke up in the morning and didn't think anything of it." Owen turned to Tosh and started walking backwards as he clapped sarcastically at her. She bent down and grabbed a clump of snow and hurled it at Owen. She hit him square in the face.

His face was priceless; the look of utter disgust and surprise tickled the ribs of the rest of the team.

"Hey Tosh I didn't know you were a make up artist, Owen looks better already." Piped up Ianto. Owen's features contorted into rage and he lobbed a large hunk of snow at Ianto. He anticipated this and ducked to the ground, while he was crouched on the ground he grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at Owen. Owen was not pleased at Ianto's aim.

"Oh look, Owen's got 'snow balls'!" Gwen cried. The rest of the team fell over laughing. Owen straightened up and walked off in a huff. Thanks to Owen's display the team were content in walking the rest of the way up towards where they would camp for the night. The place where the campsite sat was breathtaking. The mountains glittered in the slowly, setting sun light. The snow fell softly on the ground creating a steadily thickening blanket of soft snow. The sun was like fire as the sun slowly set over the monstrous mountains. Setting up the tents had been pretty easy, since the team had had some practice while blissfully unaware of the cannibals that craved their meat. There were two tents, one for the girls and one for the guys. They were arranged so that both tents faced where they had a small campfire. Ianto had proved himself the best man in the universe as he handed out the most heavenly coffee in the all the world. Gwen and Tosh had both kissed him on the cheek as he handed out the magical brew. He chuckled in his low, Welsh tone and then thrust a coffee to Owen.

Owen took the coffee from Ianto but never said a thing. The girls giggled. Suddenly a large gust of wind gusted over the team, Ianto went sent sprawling. His back slammed against a large, protruding rock. He cried out in pain as the gust died down.

Gwen, Owen and Tosh rushed over to him; his back pressed against the solid material, expletives murmuring from his mouth. They helped him to his feet. His face contorted with pain as he took each small step. Owen helped him lie down on the floor of their tent.

"Ianto…ok Ianto" Owen said to Ianto carefully, trying to take his mind off the pain. "I need to look at your back mate. It didn't sound good when you hit that boulder." Explained Owen. He nodded to the girls and they helped Ianto remove the layers.

"It felt worse than it sounded" Hissed Ianto through gritted teeth. Each article of clothing that was removed from his torso was like a cold knife through his spine. Finally Ianto was down to a thin white shirt.

"Ok, lets see then" Sighed Owen. He pulled up Ianto's shirt and winced. "Oh mate…that's gotta hurt." Owen hissed as he replaced the shirt. Ianto, Tosh and Gwen gave Owen the same look.

"Well, I never knew that" Hissed Ianto, his voice dripping with sarcasm…much like Owen. "Thank you for telling me." Tosh rubbed his forearm to comfort him.

"Look Yan, you've slipped a disk, it's a lot better than it could have been." Ianto looked down then up at the ceiling.

"Owen can help, cant you?" Asked Gwen.

"Right I can help you mate…but you're not gonna like it" sighed Owen. Ianto bowed his head slightly. Owen clapped his gloved hands together and stood up.

"Right, Yan pass me your arms…above your head…that's it" Ianto was now sat with his arms in the air, Owen held his elbows then braced his foot against Ianto's back. "Now, I'm gonna put your back right. Sorry mate, this is gonna hurt like shit!"

Owen thrust his foot forward. Ianto's cries of pain echoed through the surrounding area. Tosh and Gwen had looked away. Ianto's back had cracked back into place, but Ianto deafened the sound. Owen let go of Ianto's arms; he fell forwards and landed on his side. Ianto was panting hard and had his eyes screwed tight. A tear trickled down his cheek. Tosh sat beside him and pulled his torso onto her lap and ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's over Yan. You'll be fine now." She shushed gently.

Owen went outside and grabbed a handful of snow from the ground. He walked back inside and pressed the ice against Ianto's back.

"That should help a little." Owen patted Ianto's shoulder and grabbed his sleeping bag. " Tosh, you can stay here if you like. Anyway Ianto's asleep…don't need to wake him up." Reasoned Owen. Tosh nodded and Gwen swapped Toshiko's sleeping bag for Owen's. They helped wrap Ianto up and retired to sleep.

Tosh fell asleep with Ianto on her lap. He woke up in the small hours of the morning. Out of habit more than the pain in his back. He looked up and saw Tosh sleeping. He smiled and attempted to get up, he winced in pain and settled back down. Toshiko shifted and muttered something. Her hand was still laced in his hair. He chuckled softly and fell back asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: As you all seem to like the stuff that I have written, so I hope you like this next chapter. Please excuse any lengthy gaps between chapters, as I get writer's block like hell. Here you go.

He was running again. Always the same dream, running from some unknown evil that was closing in on him fast. He rounded a corner and slammed his back against the wall. His breath came from his mouth in small bursts of heat in the cold air that surrounded him. At least this was new. It was usually stiflingly warm and the thin shirt that he was wearing would cling to his body with sweat.

This time the shirt was keeping his torso warm against the icy air. Gooseflesh dominated his body, but

Wait a minute. Where did the blankness come from? It was a black corridor a second ago. And…where was the wall? He was leaning against a wall wasn't he? Now, he was stood in a blank room with a chair in the middle. The chair was empty. He turned to see where he had come from, but saw that the blankness just continued on into infinity. When he turned back there was a figure slumped in the chair.

"Hello?" He called to the figure; his voice was distorted and strange like he was in a cave or a valley. The figure did not answer. He then saw that there was a steadily growing pool of blood coming from the figure. He ran forward and pulled the person's face to his level…and he yelled.

"Ianto?" Said a voice; it was like he was in the cave again. The voice called his name again. He felt stiff and locked, like he had done some strenuous activity and he was repaying it. Another voice called him. This time it was deeper. The first had been higher, a woman. He recognised each voice, but couldn't place where he had heard them.

Someone was helping him sit up and tapping the side of his face lightly.

"Ianto, come on. Wake up mate. Can you hear me? Yan?" Said the male voice. Owen. That's who it was. The other one was Tosh…yes Toshiko. But where was Gwen. Then a sharp flash of pain went through his back. Familiar pain.

"Gently Ianto. You'll be ok. Open your eyes for me." Came Gwen's voice. He did as he was told and squinted at the bright lights that greeted him. He turned his head away.

"Sorry mate. It is light ya'know." Reasoned Owen. It was weird hearing his voice with a caring tone. Ianto turned and waited for his vision to stop being blurry. When he could focus he saw that Owen was sat beside him. He smiled and turned to his medical bag, rummaging for something. Gwen was the other side Ianto. She ruffled his hair playfully.

"Bad dream?" Asked Gwen gently.

"Yeah, it's nothing really." Reasoned Ianto, his voice was rough. He can't have slept well then. Something popped into his head. Where was Toshiko?

Another hand ran through his hair. He looked up and saw that he had his head laid in her lap. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair again. Owen turned from his bag and passed Ianto a couple of pills and a warm thermos of what smelled like coffee. Ianto took the pills and downed the coffee.

He coughed at the awful taste.

"Sorry Yan. You really need to tell me your recipe." Chuckled Owen. It was his abomination that had just tainted his mouth.

"Over my dead body." Croaked Ianto. He took another sip and shuddered. Everyone laughed.

Ianto took his time changing, in that time Owen had lightened Ianto's bad and shared it between the girls and him. He told Gwen and Tosh not to tell Ianto that his bag was lighter. They nodded.

As the team set off again Ianto badgered Owen that his pack felt lighter and asked if he had tampered with it.

"That rock must have connected with your head mate. You're going loony." Protested Owen. Ianto shook his head and reasoned that the rough night and the trauma that he suffered the day before must be the cause of him seeing things. They trudged for hours through the thickening snowstorm. They lifted their collars and pulled their scarves around their necks. Toshiko began to fall behind; she was the smallest of the group and couldn't keep up in the deep snow. Step after step became difficult and she began to tire. Finally, she collapsed with a small sigh. Ianto was behind her and ran forwards.

He cried her name but she didn't answer. Ianto called to Owen and Gwen. They turned at his voice and ran back to help Tosh. Owen removed his large jacket and wrapped it round her shivering shoulders.

"We need to keep going." He yelled over the loud storm. "If we hurry we can get to the next checkpoint and set up camp for the night."

"But what about Toshiko? We can't carry her or make her walk in this snow…its mad!" Protested Gwen. Ianto wasn't listening. He held Toshiko in his arms like she had done several hours earlier. He looked down at her pale face and stroked a strand of hair from her cheek.

"Owen's right." Ianto called. Gwen and Owen looked up from their most recent argument.

"But Yan…" Started Gwen. Ianto raised a hand to stop her.

"It's open and dangerous here. The next checkpoint has shelter. It's better for Toshiko if we continue." Ianto never looked up. Gwen sighed and stood up. She then nodded and helped Owen to his feet.

Gwen offered to help Ianto, but he waved her off and clambered to his feet himself, lifting Toshiko and holding her tightly in his arms. He grunted with pain as he shifted her slightly so that he didn't drop her.

"Yan…you cant…" Started Owen, but Ianto walked ahead of Gwen and Owen determination etched on his face.

"Watch me" He bit back. Owen looked at Gwen and shook his head and followed the steadily disappearing figure of Ianto into the flurry of snow. Gwen looked up at the snow. The flakes flittered down like confetti.

_Where are you Jack? We need you. _Thought Gwen sadly as she jogged after Ianto and Owen.

An hour later Owen popped his head out of the tent that Toshiko was sat in. He waved over to Gwen and Ianto and made a 'thumbs up' sign at them. Ianto scrambled to his feet and half ran to the tent, followed closely by Gwen. The tent was stiflingly hot and humid. Tosh was sat up on the floor with Owen, Gwen and Ianto's sleeping bags on her as well as her own. Tosh looked tired and worn. Her hair was lank and messy. She looked up at the gaggle that stared back at her. She smiled and giggled at them.

"What?" She laughed. Ianto passed her a mug of coffee.

"Just good to see you're alright." Admitted Owen. Toshiko smiled and drank the last of the coffee in her cup.

"So, where are we going to next. We must be close now. They said it's a three day hike and we haven't got any closer to where we should be." Enquired Toshiko.

The others looked at each other with the same expression etched on their faces. The look that Jack had when he was telling the team that they would have to stay over night because a big object had come through the rift and was causing problems, even though seconds earlier he had told them to go home.

"What?" Asked Toshiko. She looked from person to person, using her eyes to try and weed out someone to tell her where they were and what was going to happen.

Ianto sighed and looked straight at Toshiko.

"We've been set up. About ten minutes ago we got a message from a journalist that was part of Torchwood. She set out to find out more about the Prime minister. But her signal was destroyed and a distress signal was sent. This means that she was killed in the line of duty. We are to return to Britain as soon as possible. The Prime minister has gone mad and sent hoards of…things to destroy the world. He calls them…the Tocklefane." They all looked down and Tosh simply sat and stared at them. Her mouth was hung open; she started to shake her head slowly.

"No…no, no, no, no. Wha…what are we going to do." She asked flabbergasted. No one spoke. Ianto turned his head to the side and looked outside.

"Jack. What about Jack? Where is he?" Demanded Tosh.

"Captured. It looks like he managed to infiltrate the base where all this is happening and was captured in the process." Admitted Owen. "It seems that he has a close friendship with…him."

At the mention of Torchwood's number one wanted alien the team froze. Gwen was confused.

"Who is…'him?'

"Jack never told us about…'him'. I always wondered why. Now I understand." Snarled Owen. "The Doctor. That's whom we refer to. Torchwood's most wanted. Number one on our list of deadly aliens. He is the reason that Torchwood was set up."

Gwen sat still and listened to how The Doctor had threatened the life of Queen Victoria and how she set up the institute to protect the Empire…even the world. He then told Gwen the full story of Canary Wharf. Ianto cringed at the mention of Cybermen. Tosh patted his hand while Owen told how The Doctor had been blamed for deaths. At the end of his story Gwen couldn't believe that Jack would go near such a dangerous alien.

"What are we going to do?" She uttered, almost inaudible over the din of the storm.

"We're gonna trek back. The world needs Torchwood…as bloody usual" Moaned Owen. He scrambled to his feet and began to pack things into his backpack.

"What…are we going now?!" Exclaimed Gwen. When Owen turned to her and gave her a stern look, she understood immediately. Gwen hurried from the tent and began to pack her stuff. Owen agreed to pack Ianto's things if he looked after Toshiko…and did Owen's duties back at Torchwood for three months.

Two hours later the team set off at a steady pace towards the airport that they had been left at only a few days ago. Ianto had tinkered with the trackers that the team had been given. It turned out that there was a magnetic device in them to make sure that a signal was always in front. Ianto pulled it out and reset the tracker to take them back. He led the way this time. Gwen was next, then Toshiko who was aided by Owen. Toshiko insisted that they should go as quickly, even though she was still weak.

Ianto set a fast pace. His back ached terribly and the storm was making the journey worse. As fate would dictate the storm had changed direction as soon as they set out and it now was in their faces again. They travelled for hours, till the sun had nearly set. Ianto was determined to get back and help Jack. He thought of Jack while he pounded the ground, each step a knife through his back.

They set up camp when there was hardly and light left and they were frozen to the bone. Ianto slept uneasily. The dream returned…


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hope u like this next chapter. It gets pretty sad so I would have the tissues ready when you read.

He was in that same corridor. The same thing again. The same black monster that chases him, then the wall, the room. This time he could see that the person sat in the chair was a woman. The same pool of blood on the floor emitting from her head. Ianto walked towards her.

"Who are you?" The same echo. "Why are you here?" Still no answer. "ANSWER ME!"

She reacted to this. Her head rose from her chest and looked straight into his eyes. Those wonderful eyes that had made Ianto's breath hitch whenever he looked into them. Ianto backed away slowly.

"No…it can't be you. YOU'RE DEAD!" He cried at the woman. "They shot you they all did. NO. Please no." Begged Ianto. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself, rocking backwards and forwards on his haunches. He shook his head from side to side and mumbled pleading words.

Then he felt hands on his waist, gently shaking him. His last fleeting glance of the woman…was as a tear slid down her cheek. Lisa's cheek.

Ianto opened his eyes to see Owen looming over him with a worried look on his strained features. It had been three days since the team had decided to head back to Britain and the tyranny that had consumed the rest of the world. They had seen fleeting glances of the Toclefane…whatever they were, while walking in the higher reaches of the mountains. Owen had insisted on this route as it was the quickest from A to B. Ianto coughed and sat up slowly, rubbing the dust and tears away.

"You know that those dreams aren't real?" Reasoned Owen, he passed Ianto the flask of hot soup. The coffee had run out the day before. They were now down to drinking 'Cuppa soup'; vile as it was Ianto agreed that it was the only way to keep warm.

Ianto nodded in agreement. The dreams had become steadily worse as the days dragged on. His back was good enough to not give him grief, but he now had a cough that was slowly scrapping the skin from his lungs…or that's what it felt like.

Owen had diagnosed his with mild pneumonia. Tosh and Gwen had joined Owen in a conversation on the same night about hurrying their progress to cure Ianto.

Tosh didn't have another fainting attack but she was getting weaker. Gwen was no better; she worried at what her boyfriend would say when she got back, if they ever did get back…or if he was still alive.

Owen on the other hand had shown no emotion. He wasn't himself. He didn't moan about the weather, he supported the team when they needed it, not when he felt like it. The strain was beginning to show. Owen had done pretty well in life, he didn't have any wrinkles…till now. The strain was etched on his face and the beard didn't make it any better.

Ianto was the same, the usual tidy physique was taken over by the look of a tramp.

England 

**Thousands of miles above the capital**

**09:00 hours**

**The archangel craft**

Harold Saxon smiled to himself as the dulcet tones of 'Re-light my fire' played in the background. He leaned over the controls and punched in a six-digit code. The screen confirmed the action and displayed a map on the monitor. Saxon then tapped rapidly a new destination and confirmed that he wanted to send the Torchwood team over the edge of a very nice cliff. Saxon grinned and ran back over to the shrivelled old man in a wheelchair.

"Hello granddad." He chimed. "Are we going to talk today?" He cooed in an insufferable baby voice. The old man made now sign of movement or recognition. Saxon shrugged and pushed the wheelchair out of the door, humming merrily to himself.

Saxon stopped outside a metal door that held one of his favourite playthings. Behind the door a rough voice was yelling obscenities in a variety of languages at the small window in the middle of the metal door.

Saxon grinned and walked inside, leaving the shrivelled man sat alone outside. In his solitude, he wept for the four people that were to meet their doom.

"WHERE ARE MY TEAM!" The rough voice cried. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM YOU FUCKING SICK BASTARD." He swore, violently pulling at his chains to get at the man that sauntered over to him.

"Jack…what do you take me for?" He chided innocently. "All I've done is sent them on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas and over the edge of the biggest cliff I can find." Jack's face fell. His eyes opened wide and mouth fell open. Saxon placed a hand on his mouth in fake amazement.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud." He thought to himself tapping his chin, like this was all a game. "Oh well."

Jack shook his head slowly. Then he roared and flung himself at Saxon, his chains rang out their protest and Jack cried harder as he struggled to rip the throat from his neck.

"They are determined little things. That welsh bloke…what's his name? Oh yes…Ianto." At this name Jack stopped.

"Yes, it seems he had some back trouble, was smashed onto a big boulder. That must of hurt." Teased Saxon. "He's now got pneumonia. Wont last long if I'm correct in thinking. And the rest of them are getting weaker and weaker."

Jack stood still, fighting back tears.

"But I guess you don't care about them that much if you ran off like that to The Doctor." Though Saxon aloud. "Ianto seems to be breaking his heart. Oh dear…diddums." Mocked Saxon.

Saxon smiled and walked away. He turned suddenly and fired a shot at Jack right through his head.

"Nighty night." He chuckled and walked off with the wheelchair. The Doctor turned and looked at Jack, who had just taken a shuddering breath.

As Saxon walked away he heard a howl of pain from Jack. He had fallen to his knees and was begging that they would be all right.

"I'm sorry." He cried over and over again.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Next chapter.

Ianto woke up suddenly, his body soaked in sweat. He was breathing erratically. He looked around the tent bleary-eyed, the last remnants of the nightmare glinting on the inside of his eyelids every time he blinked. A shape shifted in their sleeping bag on his right side. A rough voice emitted from the tangle of sleeping bag and the occasional limb sticking out from the side.

"Yan? What's up?" The voice was slurred from lack of sleep. A face appeared from the mess of thick fabric. Owen looked at Ianto with un-focused eyes for a second. He then shifted into a sitting position and placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder to wake him from the trance that he sat in. Ianto jumped and gasped at the same time. Owen held Ianto's shoulder and turned him to his face, the exhaustion forgotten.

"Ianto? What happened?" asked Owen firmly.

He looked into Owen's eyes then shook his head.

"N…nothing. Bad dream. That's all." Stammered Ianto. The dream had been so real. He could still hear Jack's soft sobbing as he sat still. Owen sighed in frustration that Ianto had woken him up for seemingly no reason at all. Owen shifted back into the depths of his sleeping bad and began to drift into uneasy sleep.

"I…saw Jack." Rasped Ianto suddenly. Owen sat up and looked at him.

"He's in danger?"

"Yes…but that's not the problem. We're all in danger. The GPS has been tampered with." At this revelation Ianto pulled the pocket sized device from his trouser pocket and began tapping at the screen. Displays and directions flashed across his eyes. Then something caught his eye that wasn't there yesterday.

"Someone changed our direction."

"_What?_" exclaimed Owen. He scrambled over to the illuminated screen and stared at what Ianto was pointing at. Ianto was right. Yesterday the GPS was taking the team over a small mountain, a short cut to the airfield. Now they were walking over a stretch of ground that Ianto didn't like the look of.

"That goes right off the edge of a cliff" he murmured. Owen looked at him and then back at the GPS.

"Can't be. Can it?"

"Who do you think controls this? UNIT gave it to us…and who's the leader of UNIT now?" asked Ianto.

"Shit" snarled Owen. He sat back and ran his hands through his hair muttering to himself.

Ianto got up slowly and began to pack up his things in a monotonous motion. He then heaved the pack onto his back and turned to Owen.

Owen looked up as the whirl of bitter cold air whipped his face. Ianto had opened the flap of the tent and was looking at Owen with the same determined expression that he had worn since the day they left Cardiff.

"Jack wouldn't sit here. He would be out there now, for any one of us." Reasoned the young Welshman.

Owen sighed and scraped his hands across his unshaven face. His hands lingered over his eyes for a fleeting second before he slapped his thighs and scrambled from the floor to gather his things. Ianto smiled as Owen dug under a pile of his things for his sleeping bag cover. Ianto walked out into the ice cold.

An hour later the girls had woken up and were packed ready to go. Ianto set off at a fast pace, trudging through the thick snow that came up to each of the team's knees. Even Ianto who was the tallest of the group since Jack had disappeared.

Gwen looked up after an hour of pounding the ground. It was a passing glance that she gave to a small mound of snow. At first she thought that the protruding sliver of grey was that of a very large boulder. But looking closer at the shape she realised that the shade of grey was too…shiny. More metallic than anything.

"Ianto?" she called across to the large shape two people ahead of her.

"Yeah?" called back the figure, only turning his head slightly.

"Is that a shard of metal?"

Ianto turned to where Gwen was pointing. At some point Ianto had donned a pair of goggles. He lifted then to the top of his head and squinted at the mound. Curious of what all the fuss was about Tosh and Owen looked at what was happening.

"Ianto…is that what I think it is?" choked Tosh. Gwen and Owen looked at each other puzzled. Gwen raised her eyebrows like she was asking if he knew what was going on. He shrugged and followed Tosh and Ianto, whom were edging closer to the shape.

"It's…I…I don't believe this!" choked Ianto. He ran his hand over the cool, smooth shape. He then rapped his knuckles on the exposed part. A dull ringing sounded. He then began to laugh and threw his hands round Tosh. She squealed in delight as he began to prance round, still holding her waist.

"_If _we can stop the lunacy what in hell is that thing?" barked Owen.

Ianto stopped and looked at what he was doing. In a complete change of character Ianto found that he was holding the waist of his colleague, that he had a slight infatuation for, and was swinging her round. He placed Tosh gently on the floor and coughed to avert the gaze of all three members of the team. Tosh pulled a strand of hair back from her face and began to circle the mound.

"It's a spacecraft. An Icealate one to be exact" explained Ianto. Owen shrugged like he didn't know what Ianto was going on about.

"How do you think the abominable snowman got here?" asked Ianto, raising his eyebrows.

"Ohhh" sighed Owen and Gwen together as they understood.

"I found the entrance!" cried Tosh from the other side of the mound. The team ran round to where she stood. Directly in front of them was a small diamond shaped indent in the wall of metal. Tosh attempted pressing her hands against the shape. Nothing happened.

Ianto pushed Tosh aside gently and stood firm in front of the diamond. His voice changed as he spoke, a rasping sound replaced his usual welsh lilt.

"Niam-ach-ooor" he breathed. The diamond lit up and sunk deeper into the wall, then the wall slid aside to reveal a brightly-lit walkway that split in opposite directions.

Ianto turned to look at the others. Their mouths were agape, their eyes staring at him. He looked at each member, but no one spoke.

"What?" he questioned. Owen spoke first.

"Smart arse!" he cried and stalked in the expanse of the craft and turned right. Tosh closed her mouth and followed after Owen. Gwen shook her head and continued to look at Ianto with a puzzled expression.

"In Torchwood one they taught us how to open crafts. Basic training. And the accent is easy, like Scottish…only…not" he then winked at Gwen and went to walk inside. He stopped as he realised that Gwen was still stood stock-still staring at the door. He clasped her forearm gently and pulled her inside, where she subsequently recovered to gaze upon the brilliant lights that played before her.

Owen had managed to find the cockpit and was sat in the captain's chair, his hands hovering over the brightly-lit buttons. The front of the ship was obviously buried deep in the snow after a massive impact. The 'windscreen' was pure white and scratched slightly. Owen went to press one of the buttons that had an alien letter on it.

"_OWEN!" _cried Ianto. It was strange to hear such a quiet person yell. Owen jumped and looked at him.

"What! I didn't touch nothin' " complained Owen in a guilty voice. He scrambled from the seat and stood by Tosh.

"It's good you didn't. That one fires the rockets" said Ianto casually. Owen looked wide-eyed at where he had sat, then looked at his feet.

The cockpit was shaped like a horseshoe. All the switches and buttons surrounded the captain's chair. Each looked like they controlled something complicated or dangerous. Beside some of them were alien words. Ianto walked over and dropped into the seat, his hands hovered over the buttons. He felt powerful being in control for once. It was strange; he was always in the background. But he liked it like that. He always hated to make decisions on his own. If there was a decision to make he always had to ask someone else what to do. But with the incident with Lisa, he had had to take the initiative. Wash her, feed her, make the pain go away and keep her company. The most difficult part was to hide her from the team and to keep her hopes alive that she will survive. He shook his head…he needed to concentrate.

"Grab onto something guys" he called back to the others. They looked at each other in disbelief.

"You're gonna fly this thing?" asked Owen. Ianto turned to him and nodded. The he sat down and thought about which was the start button…where was the big red or green button when he needed it?

"Do you know how?" questioned Tosh.

"I think so…" Ianto then began to mutter to himself, he then pressed a button, then another and another. A massive roaring sound punctuated the silence and the craft shuddered into life. It sounded like a thousand airline engines bursting into life. Tosh grabbed Owen and slid to the floor. Gwen fell to the ground with a thud. She scrambled to Owen who held the two girls. The snow covering the front of the craft made the silhouette of Ianto more ominous. He flipped switches and the engines strained to get clear of the snow. Ianto tried to spur the craft, but it wouldn't move. Ianto sighed in frustration and kicked the controls. He stormed past the team and left the craft.

Curious of what Ianto might do the team followed him out of the craft. Ianto was near the front shovelling snow from the great ship with his gloved hands. Owen looked at the girls, shrugged and joined Ianto. Gwen and Tosh followed too. Snow flew in all directions and soon the hull of the craft became more pronounced. The nose of the spacecraft came into view and Ianto looked up. The air was thin and his limbs felt like he had run a marathon, but he fought his way back to the cockpit to fire up the craft one more time. Gwen Tosh and Owen scrambled to get inside as the great metal door began to close. Then the engines groaned again, the roar louder now that the craft could move.

Ianto pulled back a long lever and the craft began to rise slowly. He then tapped at a few more buttons and placed his hand on a large panel. A light ran under his hand, reading his palm print. With a release of air a compartment opened and a circular helmet rose slowly from within its depths. Owen, Gwen and Tosh stared at it.

"What's that for?" asked Owen.

"It reads telepathic fields. If I think about Cardiff we will get there quicker than me flying this thing" replied Ianto simply.

He leaned forward and held the helmet in his hands. It was pure, glistening black. It had the sheen of black marble, but it was as light as plastic. He lifted it from the pedestal and placed it on his head. Ianto's voice changed again as he spoke to the helmet. It suddenly clasped around his head with a mechanical whirr.

But then Ianto yelled in pain…as three needles speared his skull. The rest of the team cried out to him as he fell limp. As soon as Ianto fell he sat back up. The chair turned slowly. Ianto's eyes were pure white; the pupils of his eyes had melted into the whites of his eyes. Tosh recoiled and Gwen gasped. Owen stood up slowly and walked over to Ianto. He shook his hand over his eyes but got no reply.

"Ianto?"

At his name Ianto jolted and began to recite commands at lightening speed.

"CardiffhomehomehomeJackbacktoJackheneedsus…" the rest of his speech slurred into nothing as the ship switched to auto pilot. With a crash Owen was thrown backwards as the craft hurtled towards Cardiff centre.

But Owen, Gwen and Tosh were not ready for the sight that greeted them.

Every street corner was burning; the buildings were crumbling to the ground. The millennium centre was ablaze and the fountain in the centre of the bay was a crumpled mass of metal. Even more disturbing was the bodies that lay there.

The craft landed with a gentle thud. The helmet unclasped from Ianto's head with a release of air. His hair was dripping with sweat that trickled slowly down his forehead. Tosh hurried to his side as he fell forwards. With a groan Ianto opened his eyes, luckily they were back to their normal deep brown colour.

"Remind me to never do that again" grumbled Ianto. Tosh smiled and flung her arms round his neck. Ianto was taken back at first but he hugged back all the same.

Owen and Gwen were outside; the stench of death was every where. And the team were the only people that could put it right.


End file.
